M279 Wilmar, Skelmorlie

This detached house in the affluent
commuter enclave of Skelmorlie looks west over the Firth of Clyde to Bute. The
name is a conflation of the first names of William and Margaret Cunningham
Rankin, the couple for whom the house was built. The front is framed by broad
bay windows, with a simple veranda recessed between. It was divided into two
dwellings c. 1979, but much high-quality joinery survives inside. The original
hall, N., has a screen of three round arches in front of the stairs, with
richly carved capitals; the billiard room, S., has a chimneypiece with a pair
of unfluted Roman Doric columns. The carved
decoration throughout is based on Renaissance examples.

Authorship: 'Lounge' for Wilmar was included on a list of Mackintosh's works
compiled in the 1930s by Ronald Harrison, an early student of his architecture, who
had access to the office records. It was also included on Harrison's list of a
selection of drawings produced in the office during Mackintosh's time. Harrison
evidently believed that Mackintosh contributed in some way to the design of the
building, but no evidence has come to light to support this attribution. Rather
the stylistic evidence, for example the carved decoration, strongly suggests
that John Keppie designed the house.

'Mackintosh Architecture' led by The Hunterian, University of Glasgow, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council; with additional support from The Monument Trust, The Pilgrim Trust, and the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art; and collaborative input from Historic Scotland and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland.